Google releases Chrome OS source code

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google has released the source code for its Chrome OS project, as it prepares to show off the lightweight operating system for the first time.

Sundar Pichai, Google's VP of product management

(Credit: Google)

Google has invited much of the technology press to an event here at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters Thursday morning to demonstrate Chrome OS, which it is developing for Netbooks as a new type of operating system. However, those of you who speak code can get started poking around with the operating system at the Chromium project blog, as spotted by the Google Operating System blog.

Several Google engineers are expected to speak at the event Thursday morning, as Google shows off Chrome OS after first announcing it in July. We'll have regular updates as events warrant.

Updated 10:10 a.m. PST: Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google, kicked off the presentation by setting expectations: Google is about a year away from releasing Chrome OS. There will be no beta today, and no products to announce, but the main news is that the "code is fully open," he said, allowing Google developers to work on the project hand-in-hand with the community.

Updated 10:22 a.m. PST: Pichai ran through a lot of things we already know building up to the big reveal: Netbook shipments are growing, people are doing more and more in their browser as opposed to running desktop applications, and laptops and smartphones are converging into new types of devices like tablets and e-readers.

Every application on Chrome OS will be a Web application, Pichai said. This will help improve speed and especially security, since users won't be installing applications to their systems, he said.

Google is actually running the presentation on a Chrome laptop, although Pichai warns that because Chrome OS is a year away from release, the actual UI could change between now and then. If you've used Chrome, you've seen the basic Chrome OS UI.

Updated 10:36 a.m. PST: Matt Papakipos, engineering director for Chrome OS, took over for Pichai to explain how Google is making Chrome OS work under the hood. Google's whole idea is to make Chrome-based laptops more like televisions: flip a switch, and it's on. They are eliminating the boot loader and optimizing the kernel so that all the services that normally load with an OS at start-up don't load until they are needed.

They are using a verified boot process that uses multiple signature keys to verify whether or not Web applications are legitimate. Papakipos demonstrates what happens when Chrome OS tries to download malware: it detects the malware and reboots the system back to a clean image, which is much easier than doing such a thing on a regular PC or Mac because it's Web-oriented and the data is backed up in the cloud.

Updated 10:46 a.m. PST: Pichai retakes the stage to talk about how Chrome OS Netbooks will make it on store shelves. They're not ready to talk about these plans in detail since we're about a year away, but there's a few plans that are relatively solid.

Google will specify components for Chrome OS Netbook partners: you won't be able to download Chrome OS on an existing Netbook, you'll have to buy a Chrome OS-optimized Netbook. For example, Google won't support hard drives: Chrome OS Netbooks will have to use solid-state drives. "We really want the software to understand the underlying hardware," Pichai said.

The hope is that these Netbooks will be ready by next year's holiday season, Pichai said. There's no word on price yet, but Google hinted that it's going to require Netbook makers to deliver slightly larger Netbooks than are currently en vogue, with full-size keyboards and bigger touch pads.

Updated 10:55 a.m. PST: Even though Google is specifying hardware components, Pichai was not ready to talk about pricing for Chrome OS-Netbooks during a question and answer session. It's hard to predict a year ahead of time what components will cost, he claimed, and said that Google is not setting a specific price point for Chrome OS Netbooks. He did say that Chrome OS Netbooks will likely slot into the prices that people are used to paying for Netbooks today.

Updated 11:11 a.m. PST: Pichai said Google is working on ways to make Chrome OS useful in offline situations, taking advantage of technologies like Google Gears. But this is an operating system designed primarily for online use, he said, later dodging a question about whether or not wireless WAN chips for cellular networks would be part of the Chrome OS Netbook specifications.

Chrome OS Netbooks will run on both x86 and ARM chips, Pichai said. All applications created for the Netbooks will be Web applications, he said: Google does not appear to have plans to allow native applications to run directly on the processor.

[teraguru1]

I wanted to download Google OS...maybe soon. I wonder what is MSFT and APPL thinking :-)

[slickuser]

re-package Linux = New OS!!!!<br /><br />Yet another distribution...

[aMUSICsite]

This running in a virtual machine could well be the safest way to browse the web..

[DMBoricua]

Its just like another Linux distribution. Only from Google. Now anyone who uses the Google OS will definitely get tracked for EVERYTHING the user does on it. Thats Google for ya. I'm not sure what I feel about that.

[only_truth]

You can't download it. It's going to come preinstalled on OEM devices but otherwise will be unavailable.

[bmccorm2]

@slickuser<br /><br />That's what i say about OS X...

[captain_numerica]

@bmccorm2 - BSD != Linux. :)

[Fil0403]

"Google will specify components for Chrome OS Netbook partners: you won't be able to download Chrome OS on an existing Netbook, you'll have to buy a Chrome OS-optimized Netbook." <br /> <br />@ slickuser: Agreed. <br /> <br />@ aMUSICsite: This isn't running in a virtual machine, the machine is physical and it's there; either way, IMO there is no need to browse in a virtual machine to be safe nowadays: last time I had a major safety problem was in XP, no such thing in Vista nor 7 under PMIE7 and PMIE8 (and we're talking here about the most targeted OS and web browser). <br /> <br />@ DMBoricua: Agreed. <br /> <br />@ only_truth: Correct. <br /> <br />@ bmccorn2: +1. <br /> <br />@ captain_numerica: Both Linux and BMD descend from UNIX, so BMD ~= Linux. :)

[Fil0403]

I think MSFT is thinking "good luck managing and marketing 2 OSs for the same thing", while APPL is thinking "we did basically the same with UNIX and barely managed to get 5 % of the market with the help of our misleading ads, so good luck".

[eltoro2827]

there isnt room for two OS's....nice try google. your attempt in conquering the world and knowing everything about everyone is once again being noticed by the public. <br /> <br />just die.

[topanaris]

**** Dude "there isnt room for two OS's....nice try google. your attempt in conquering the world and knowing everything about everyone is once again being noticed by the public"<br /><br />Chill<br /><br />*hands eltoro2827 some ritalin*

[eltoro2827]

thanks for the ritalin. <br /> <br />*hands tpoanaris some vagasil*

Hey, look everybody-- a troll!<br /><br />No room for two OSs, huh? How about three? You know, Mac, Linux &#38; Windows?

[adasha76]

"just die."<br /><br />absolutely, totally, completely not a disproportionate response to the topic. AT ALL.

[eltoro2827]

yeah, ask anyone on the street and ask them what os they use.....the majority havent even heard of linux. <br /> <br /> <br />hey look everyone...someones in denial.

[YankeePoodle]

I thought he was talking about Android and Chrome OS..

[GodWish]

are u kidding me, web apps and cloud, where is the bandwidth, you are talking about a perfect world here, where everyone is internet savvy, where everyone breathes and lives internet, but you are kidding me.. this is totally ridiculous idea and this concept is a crap...

[eltoro2827]

agreed!!!!!!!!!!!

[ewsachse]

+1

[void(0)]

May be it is time for you to finally upgrade from windows 3.1

[void(0)]

May be it is time for you to upgrade from windows 3.1

[slickuser]

initially it will be available only in South Korea

[Mergatroid Mania]

I agree as well. Maybe if Google is lucky they will get as many people lined up for Chrome as are lined up for Android....snicker....<br /><br />@void(0) Maybe it's time for you to learn how to use a computer. Maybe it's time for you to learn how to use a new computer. Maybe a little spelling lesson would be in order as well.<br />You think just because something is new that makes it better? I have news for you, lots of new ideas fail every day.<br /><br />Ideas like Google making another Linux distro and calling it a new o/s.<br /><br />Good luck with that Google. The only people you will snare are people who don't know squat about computers (like grannies, and technophobes). The people who don't realize how crippled a device with your new "o/s" will be.

[42istheanswer]

I didn't think Netbooks would succeed, but they did. Let's see what happens and then we can flame.

[samiup]

it sounds like some kind of browser / terminal OS.<br />interesting but i guess 10 years earlier than its right time.<br /><br />i think networks are still physically too slow to handle such things.

[bent42]

With US ISPs moving towards per-byte billing and lagging behind the rest of the world in throughput, security concerns over "cloud" computing, and stiff competition from *nix, I think this will probably find fairly limited real world applications. Are you going to trust your pr0n to Googles cloud?

[eltoro2827]

hell no....I dont trust google any farther than i can throw them.

[n3td3v]

I didn't trust http://www.chromium.org/ at first because anyone could setup a gay sites.google.com page and create a bunch of google groups. I would at least of expected it to be a proper google web site to host everything.

[Mr. Dee]

So Google is seriously expecting everyone to have fast Internet connections to use their OS? Please go hell with your crap!

[mathomp3]

so let me get this straight, I take my netbook load chrome OS on it head out the door and within 10 minutes of driving down the road my OS stops working cause I have no internet connection, so I have no google apps, no cloud connection, no way to "reboot" after a malware install. Oh yeah that will sell well. I know they are giving it away free, but they still have to sell it to netbook makers, and the consumers buying the products with it on there. I mean might was well load ubuntu or some other "slightly friendly" linux on your netbook. So to recap Chrome is a web application you install as your OS. Hope they allow for dual boot mode, cause if not Chrome will be a huge failure. I am sure there is more to the whole OS and it will greatly change, blah blah, but right now the Google speak is crazy. And as stated above exsists in a perfect world.

[Mr. Dee]

so let me get this straight, I take my netbook load chrome OS on it head out the door and within 10 minutes of driving down the road my OS stops working cause I have no internet connection<br /><br />LOL, they (Google) seriously don't know what they are getting themselves into.

[XCMeathead]

You can already access google docs, gmail, calendar and reader (plus possibly more, I'm not sure) offline using Google Gears. It's really easy to do too, so the computer's just as useful offline as online. This was mentioned in the article... maybe you dind't read all the way?

[Gold_Storm_Mac]

netbooks usually have 3g so u get internet wherever your carrier has it.

[mathomp3]

OR... they didn't mention it about google gears till later aka after my post. LOL still though, just seems super limiting OS. Even if you can use it offline with google gears, it still seems limited to offline mode via google apps only. So basically if you use google apps, google mail, google empire software suite, then this could be an option. If you chose to use anything that is not google, you can't with this OS. Not sure that level of control will go well with consumers who get pissed cause they can't install X,Y program cause its not part of google empire.

[ilsthey]

I suspect the earlier posters don't recognize just how many computer users there are in the world just like my wife who this would be the perfect device. <br /><br />All she does on a a computer is chat with friends on social networks, read emails, shops on web sites, some internet based job searches and submittals and occasionally write a letter. <br /><br />This OS/Netbook would be an ideal device for her and many like her. Even for me, it won't replace my main desk top or LARGE laptop, but I could see it as a nice road device to have with me to do have when I am away from the home.

[mathomp3]

And your wife is going to be fine when google's cloud goes down for a week and her laptop turns into a brick? Or when she is at her mothers in the country side, and she can't use her laptop cause she doesn't have internet there? yes there are a ton of people that this "could" work for such as your wife that sits at home on the house's wifi surfing the web. I think the concern is the wifi goes out and the laptop turns into a heating pad. If it can live / operate in an offline mode and then auto synch during active connections then this will work. Keep in mind the idea of a netbook is a small lightweight highly portable laptop, that allows you to do basic things like use office, send emails, etc. At least with a linux install the internet goes black and you can still hook up the camera and upload your pics, write emails and save them to be sent later, (with a local client), can write memos, etc you can still work on your netbook, without internet and when its back online, send it all out. <br />My friend for example has a netbook she uses for church she travels a bunch and when at meetings she takes notes on her netbook. When she gets done she finds a connection and emails them out. Perfect use of netbook. Last week she was in no where land for 10 days without a connection anywhere, so her chrome OS would have bricked her machine for 10 days. Instead she just kept taking notes for the 10 days, worked on her website (offline), filled out applications, and then when she got home, send it all out. Key here is why do I want something that only works when I am connected to the web, when for the same price I can get something that works anytime?

[Mr. Dee]

Your wife is not the world.

[hutwarmer]

@mathomp3 <br /> <br />do you *really* believe that *nobody* at google thought about any of the points you brought up? i always love listening to people who have never done anything except whine about what other people and companies are doing. They love to play armchair physic and tlak about how products/services are going to be complete failures. I bet you said android was going to be a colossal failure too.

[eltoro2827]

mr. dee has a point

[ilsthey]

@mathomp3<br /><br />Show me the specification that says these devices don't work with 100% wifi connectivity and you may have a point. But until such a time, I think your concerns are a bit unwarranted and premature from such a basic description.<br /><br />My supposition is that the people making these things will be smart enough to build them to handle the use cases you have described.<br /><br />Price, on the other hand, could be an interesting point, be we again seem to be a bit too early to know what that story is going to be.

[Mergatroid Mania]

@hutwarmer <br /><br />Yep, people are lining up all over the world to get Android, aren't they?<br /><br />And I'm willing to be Android is way more successful than Chrome will ever be.<br /><br />Everyone is entitles to an opinion, just because you don't agree with is to reason to call them "armchair physic" (whatever that is).<br /><br />But I'm sure next time someone forms an opinion, they will contact you for permission to state it first.

[Hunnter2k3]

Mr.Dee has absolutely no point at all.<br /><br />Most people don't give a damn about any of the underlying OS.<br />Most people just browse the web and watch some media.<br />Said media used to be done on the computer, but not anymore thanks to things like Youtube, Last FM and the countless other On Demand media sites.<br />Most people in repair units get computers handed to them to ask them to fix the internet, not some drivers for their [hardware] or fix their media players or games. (well games does show up every so often)

[Jeema]

So basically it's a dumb terminal in notebook form that offers less functionality than existing notebook computers and is completely useless when out of wifi range? WHERE DO I SIGN UP.

[eltoro2827]

lol!

[ilsthey]

Are all the smart phones dead screens when they have no network connectivity?<br /><br />Is it so hard an idea that this device may not have similar 'off line' capability?

[A_K47]

doesnt Verizon have a map for that...

[Mergatroid Mania]

@ilsthey<br /><br />Uh, no, smart phones are not bricks when the signal is lost. That would be because they're "smart", and not dumb like a web o/s. (Oops, there I go calling it an o/s when LINUX is the actual o/s and Chrome is just a u/i sitting on top of it).<br /><br />If this thing has any functionality that's worth using when disconnected from the 'net, it will be thanks to the Linux portion of the machine, and no thanks to Chrome.

[amadensor]

Many people use regular machines only as dumb terminals already, and the only thing they ever run is a browser. This is for them. For the rest of us, we get the improvements Google makes to Linux so that we can use them on our full power machines, just like with Tivo or Linksys. <br /><br />This is not bad overall, but it may not be the ideal machine for the average CNet reader, who is a bit more techie than the population as a whole.

[JanglyMark]

testing

[tweety1221]

Do you guys really think that Google is so dumb. I bet there will be a way around.

[giant_david]

A bit ahead of our time, because of connection not yet ubiquitous.<br />That said, disagree with other commenter, the concept is interesting : local hardware serve just for interface purpose. Most storage and processing is done cloudy. I bet it will be a specially crafted dumb hardware with good interface low cost. Maybe 4 years from now Internet connection won't be a problem.

[dbloyd]

Knowing that it has strict hardware requirements and won't be a download when it comes out killed it for me. Also I would expect the price of notebooks to be much less since notebooks ship with Windows 7 that cost some money. Maybe Ballmer was right and Google is a 1 trick pony. I am very disappointed in Google.

[mjconver]

Tom - <br /><br />Good work, keep the updates coming. <br /><br />FWIW, I just don't get all the vitriol on this thread. Fer chrissakes, it's just another OS. I say let Google have it's shot and let the market decide. What are all these anonymous cowards afraid of, anyway?

[CupertinoBill]

Well said. I wonder why the genius folks responding here are not busy heading up technology corporations. They seem to think Google is managed by fools. I am waiting until Chrome OS is available and then I will dump on or rave about what Google is doing.

[Mergatroid Mania]

Yep, God forbid people have a different opinion than you have.<br /><br />Uh, by the way genius, Chrome is not an o/s. Linux is the o/s. Chrome is just a U.I.

[centurions83]

funny OS :)))))

[Pride73170]

I'm not seeing what's in it for OEMs. What incentive do they have to offer an OS that further reduces the hardware specs of their products. Most of them don't want to offer netbooks, as it stands, but they can't afford to lose market share. Now they're going to offer a free OS on even lighter hardware? I don't think so. This would be a great idea if Google simply wanted to provide an "Instant on" secondary OS. That would have allowed customers to ease into this. As a primary OS, this won't fly.

[Zoobie]

If the OEM doesn't have to pay the MS licensing, then they won't be forced to pull together the cheapest configuration of parts. Ultimately, they may have higher margins even if they don't have as much liberty in the configurations.

[Pride73170]

We've already seen that it doesn't work that way. In some cases, you pay more for an OEM device with a Linux distro than Windows. Don't believe me? Check out Dells Studio XPS 13 Offerings. How much RAM can you run Chrome OS with? I'm guessing very little given that it's basically a bloated browser. So 512MB is probably overkill, and no need for a hard drive. Again...what's in it for the OEM? I'm guessing that Google's strategy will evolve into providing this as a secondary, "instant on" option for customers until general users become more comfortable with the OS. My guess is that Google has already seen some of this coming. After all, why not offer a download of the OS? It's not like they won't receive vast driver support from Linux if they want it. My guess is that they aren't doing that because they won't get any OEM support if they provide an incentive for customers to stick with their old devices.

[Super2online]

Wow, I'm floored at how Gogle thinks this could actually work. You can't load any applications you have purchased for any OS. You have to have always on internet. If you go mobile, your SOL until you can get a connection. Even I never imagined they could come up with such a bad idea.

[mikernet]

Sometimes I get the impression that almost all the readers on CNET are braindead. Your web apps will work fine offline, as the article states, via Google Gears. ANYBODY can make their apps offline capable with Google Gears - it isn't limited to Google apps. It's an open platform anyone can take advantage of. And if these Netbooks catch on, I imagine a whole lot of web applications will move towards Google Gears support.

[MirageJKL]

This is so cool.

[Mr. Dee]

You're joking, right?

[A_K47]

The problem with most of the posters on this thread is that they focus way to much on the 'here and now'...GGL might just be onto something. Remember their strategies are usually long term. Do they always get it right? The have boths hits and misses.<br /><br />Furthermore, I dont believe the combination of their internal engineers and the community(remember the code is open sourced) will allow the notion of 'no wifi=dead netbook) Believing otherwise is well.. My $3's worth:<br />-They will modify/improved what they have going with gears( offline mail/docs/reader access anyone...)<br />-Didnt Eric Schimdt hint that they are refining Docs to be a real 'viable option' say in about a year? (Docs as it is now covers the basics--just a thought: how many power users of Office apps are out there anyway.Think of the average/most users: Write basic letter, draw up basic spreadsheets..)<br />- Anyone notice how Youtube is evolving lately( eehhh which is owned by GGL)<br />- The Android store is 'work in progress'- a year downstream...some refinement...hmmm a bucket of apps that can run on a hyped up version of.....gears<br />-Linux=openness=customisation...sounds a bit the the song and dance being put out by the Droid cheerleader. <br /><br />Right now what has been announced is a concept. The ball is rolling. Lets just watch this space. True, as this forums usually so strongly indicate, people have their own choices of OS. No flamewars/ b.s will get people to dump their stances. Most users are set in their ways and not everyone will ever be adventurous/open to new technology. I have my preference of OS. Not because Im a 'fanboy' or other immature label- but because it suits my needs. Im open to other OS's too at the same time-just to tinker. <br /><br />Cant wait for this though...I will hedge my bets!

[patel5]

"All applications created for the Netbooks will be Web applications, he said: Google does not appear to have plans to allow native applications to run directly on the processor."<br /><br />Seems like a lot of waisted processing power, depending what type of processor these devices will run on. Moreover, for this to even have a chance to succeed it has to have some sort of wireless WAN capability with widely available and affordable mobel data plans. Without the wan capability, this thing(s) would be nothing more then an iPod Touch without the ability to run apps natively.

[Shonumi_Ikuzumo]

"All applications created for the Netbooks will be Web applications, he said: Google does not appear to have plans to allow native applications to run directly on the processor."<br /><br />I clearly remember a certain company (Apple) that said almost exactly the same thing about their product (the iPhone). All of the applications were going to have to be browser based and so forth. They then realized that wasn't going to cut it, so they gave in and now have one of the most highly successful models selling applications (their AppStore). Google and Apple are not entirely in the same situation, but the signs seem indicative of a possible pattern. To this day though, I don't see any iPhone developer seriously looking at the web as a venue for software.<br /><br />No doubt Google is hoping that the "cloud" will prove to be aiding them, whereas Apple only had the then emerging Web 2.0 and AJAX technologies coming about, but still I like - a good number of people - have doubts about the "cloud". Everything seems to be dependent upon the "cloud" which hasn't really been proven. Maybe Google will prove it with what they are doing now, but it's too early to tell definitively. However, strictly allowing only web-based apps seems like a tricky thing to actually achieve.